Musing about my Life the Universe and Everything

Library of Congress

It has been a while. I was very occupied with my COMPs and now that I have finished them I have been playing catch up with a lot of things. I wanted to post about my visit to the Library of Congress during Spring break. So here goes.

The Library of Congress is a very impressive library. The impressive nature of the library is felt even before you enter the building. As you approachthere are signs, banners, and a map of the library.

As you can see from this map of the library, it is spread through a few buildings and each has its own purpose. The only building that I visited is the Jefferson Building, which is also the main building. For the rest of this post when I say the library or the Library of Congress, I am referring only to the Jefferson building.

Unlike many (most?) libraries, the Library of Congress is not about the books. While the library has an amazing collection, most visitors come to tour the building not to look at materials. It is more of a museum at this point. The building is an impressive show of architecture, statuary, murals, painting and stained glass.

However the library does have to exhibits, one on either side of the library. The exhibits are very interesting and consist of archive materials on display. Another cool thing is that the library has a couple of interactive stations that visitors can use to view digital copies of the exhibits as well as a digital tour (one that can be zoomed into when desired) of the library.